Representative Kevin McCarthy (R-California) was removed as Speaker of the House this week and a new Speaker will be selected next week (if all goes accord...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.92/bushel, down $0.055 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.6825/bushel, down $0.1 from yesterday's close. ...

The Market It was another week of losses in the soybean pits, but with much shallower declines than last week. November soybeans dropped 0.7 percent and ar...

Ukraine Blows Up CAP Some are worried about the impact of Ukraine joining the EU and specifically if it becomes part of the Common Agricultural Policy. Ukr...

Markets opened mostly negative following an overnight session that involved some red. However, there was a turnaround mid-session that saw much of the mark...

Export Sales and Shipments for September 22-28, 2023   Wheat:  Net sales of 273,100 metric tons (MT) for 2023/2024 were down 50 percent from...

USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed today that highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was found in a commercial tur...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.975/bushel, up $0.115 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.7825/bushel, up $0.1825 from yesterday's close. ...

The CBOT was mostly lower in lackluster trade Wednesday with soymeal, live cattle, and hogs seeing the only substantial gains. The general trend for the we...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.86/bushel, down $0.015 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.6/bushel, down $0.085 from yesterday's close. ...

UK Secretary of Business and Trade Kemi Badenoch is correct when she says there is a “zero” chance of a trade deal with the U.S. She pins blame...

El Nino continues to disrupt crop production around the world, and it is not done with Argentina. The country suffered a record crop falloff last season du...

Russian Grain Markets: 25–27 September 2023  Bearish sentiments prevail as the harvest brings more and more grain to the market while exports ar...

The CBOT was mixed on Tuesday with wheat following through on Monday’s sharp rally after USDA announced 220 KMT of SRW sold to China for 2023/24. Tha...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.875/bushel, down $0.0125 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.685/bushel, up $0.0375 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Last week the personal income data for August was released; income in August was up 0.4 percent and on the year is up 4.8 percent. The driver was private s...

Green Machinations EU leaders are in a bind. Their candidate to assume the Green Deal portfolio, Marčos Šefčovič, is being pressed by EU Parliamenta...

Global rice stocks are down just 2.7 percent this year, but the drop is larger in key rice consuming countries, plus the largest rice exporting nation, Ind...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Pakistan reports outbreaks of Fall Armyworms on maize crops in some areas...

The CBOT largely reversed Friday’s extreme, post-Grain Stocks report selloff with corn fully erasing the prior trading day’s losses. Fresh news...

Transatlantic Future A U.S.-EU meeting occurs in a few weeks and the number of topics is growing. Steel and aluminum tariffs are the only large trade issue...

USDA/FAS predicts that U.S. poultry exports to Mexico will continue to grow despite that country’s lackluster GDP growth. Mexican poultry production...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.8875/bushel, up $0.12 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.6475/bushel, up $0.2325 from yesterday's close. ...

Weather Outlook  The arrival of the expected "El Niño" weather event for Argentina continues to be delayed, and the situation is becoming more...

The federal government is open this morning due to some unexpected and quick moving maneuvers on Saturday, the last day of FY 2023. A 45-day short-term con...

The much-anticipated Grain Stocks report failed to match expectations in terms of supply data, but more than exceeded hopes for an exciting day of trade. T...

New: WPI has added softs (cocoa, coffee, cotton, and sugar) and selected energy futures (NYMEX natural gas, crude oil, RBOB gasoline, and Chicago ethanol)...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.7675/bushel, down $0.1175 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.415/bushel, down $0.3725 from yesterday's close...

The Market It was another week of falling oilseed prices. November soybeans dropped 1.6 percent, December soymeal lost 1.1 percent and December soyoil fell...

Another government shutdown is looming; WPI’s contacts on Capitol Hill and around Washington are all predicting a shutdown is more likely than not. T...

Never understood the market phrase “friendly” – friendly to whom? Today’s market was not too unfriendly to anyone from the standpoi...

USDA released its June quarterly Hogs and Pigs report today. Pre-report expectation was for a total inventory of 73.6 million head – which would have...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.885/bushel, up $0.0525 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.7875/bushel, down $0.0075 from yesterday's close.&n...

Export Sales and Shipments for September 15-21, 2023 Wheat:  Net sales of 544,500 metric tons (MT) for 2023/2024 were up 77 percent from the previous...

Shutdown Exports The U.S. government will likely shut down this weekend because some Republicans are trying to leverage more budget discipline and other go...

The CBOT was once again mixed with wheat futures dropping to fresh, two-year lows after data from Egypt’s latest tender showed continued weakness in...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.8325/bushel, up $0.035 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.795/bushel, down $0.095 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

Green Tipping Point The media only covers the two extremes: climate deniers and climate alarmists. The climate alarmists have been winning but now it is th...

U.S. and Mexican trade officials meet in Washington this Friday for the annual bilateral economic dialogue. Labor rights, automobile domestic content, and...

Russian Grain Markets 18–22 September 2023  The Russian bear continued marching over all grains in European Russia without exception. The Asian...

The CBOT was mixed on Tuesday with the worst late-September soybean ratings since 2003 offering support to soybean futures while further strength in crude...

Farm Bill Delays The prospects for passing a farm bill this year are characterized from being very cloudy to increasingly getting worse. One academic said...

Egypt was reportedly negotiating with Russia on a purchase of 1 MMT of wheat but has now gone to an international tender. Meanwhile, Tunisia tendered for 1...

The Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report for the June-August quarter will be released on Thursday. This is an interesting report as it covers the period in which...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Egypt is reportedly discussing the financing of purchases of Kazakh wheat...

August 2023 total red meat and poultry stocks were down from July and were 6.6 percent below August 2022 as beef and pork stocks continue to tighten. Once...

The CBOT was mostly higher to start the week, though fundamental reasons for the rally were few. Russia again attacked Ukraine’s Odesa port infrastru...

Ukraine has successfully sent a few ships filled with grain out the Black Sea the past few weeks, but it is unlikely to transit the 33 MMT achieved under t...

WTO Outlook USTR Katherine Tai last week described the WTO’s 13th Ministerial Conference scheduled for next February to be the first “reform mi...

Last week, the Fed’s FOMC left interest rates unchanged, as was widely expected, but the future outlook is less certain. According to Federal Reserve...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.8125/bushel, up $0.04 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.89/bushel, up $0.095 from yesterday's close.  N...

Regional News  Ukraine’s winter crop planting effort is 11 percent complete with 585.6 thousand hectares seeded so far.   Overnight, R...

Wheat Rainfall continues to evade much of Argentina’s wheat-growing region and out of the total planted area, 2 Mha are estimated to be in either reg...

New: WPI has added softs (cocoa, coffee, cotton, and sugar) and selected energy futures (NYMEX natural gas, crude oil, RBOB gasoline, and Chicago ethanol)...

The CBOT tried to recover from Thursday’s blistering selling that was primarily motivated by disappointing export sales and aggressive “risk of...

USDA released the monthly Cattle on Feed report today; the total inventory of cattle on feed in feedlots of 1,000 head or more capacity was 11.1 million he...

The Market It was another down week for the oilseeds complex. November soybeans lost 44 cents to a one month low, December soymeal is off $6.30 and Decembe...

Cattle on feed for the slaughter totaled 11.1 million head on September 1, 2023. Placements in feedlots during August totaled 2.00 million head, 5 percent...

EU Trade Minister Valdis Dombrovskis is headed to China, reportedly with the message to sign onto some form of trade agreement giving Europe assurances of...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.7725/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.795/bushel, up $0.0375 from yesterday's close. ...

Export Sales and Summary for September 8-14, 2023 Wheat:  Net sales of 307,700 metric tons (MT) for 2023/2024 were down 30 percent from the previous w...

There was red across the board today as ags and outside markets collectively absorbed the Fed’s message of potentially longer-term costlier money and...

Africa Rising Notably, the Africa Group at the WTO has asked for policy space to develop its industrial sector. Historically, the focus has been on agricul...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.7525/bushel, down $0.07 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.7575/bushel, down $0.13 from yesterday's close.&nb...

USDA will release its Cattle on Feed report tomorrow; analysts’ pre-report estimates peg the total number of cattle on feed as of 1 September at 97.6...

The CBOT found a bit of strength for the day with corn seeing the most bullish action on expectations of a smaller 2023/24 Brazilian crop. Corn posted its...

Glyphosate Wars Objections to more toxic herbicides with drift issues has been more understandable than the attack on relatively benign glyphosate. But gly...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.8225/bushel, up $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.8875/bushel, up $0.0475 from yesterday's close. ...

Russian Grain Markets 11–15 September 2023  Russian grain markets plummeted on reports of another large crop and huge carryover which is not tra...

The CBOT was mixed on Tuesday with wheat values still languishing under stiff competition from Russia. Wheat values are drifting lower despite 10-year low...

Targeting Big Ag Today signaled the end to a 60-day public comment period on the Biden Administration’s proposed regulatory guidance on antitrust iss...

In two weeks, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) will resume price reporting on propane (assuming there’s no government shutdown). The price...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.7625/bushel, up $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.84/bushel, down $0.0725 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Egypt grain importers, according to the USDA, have booked 71,000 MT of U...

The CBOT started the new week on a bearish note with last week’s WASDE and fund selling as reported in the CFTC report creating pressure. Corn has th...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.715/bushel, down $0.0475 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.9125/bushel, down $0.13 from yesterday's close.&n...

IPEF to Nowhere The Biden Administration continues to push its Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) but at least two developments raise questions as to i...

There has been much attention to, and discussion of, China’s declining two-way trade volumes. China is a trade dependent economy, with imports of man...

USDA’s Economic Research Service has highlighted the plight of American Hard Red Winter Wheat (HRW). Noting that its production and export have been...

Wheat Despite recent rains and improvements in the wheat crop’s overall state, the Rosario Grain Exchange has reduced its production estimate by 600,...

In what has been an intense week of market activity, Friday’s action was at once modest but demonstrative of the volatile path ahead.  Volume...

The Market Tuesday’s USDA WASDE report took a toll on soybeans. There was an attempted reversal in trading the next two-days, but today’s marke...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.7625/bushel, down $0.0425 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $6.0425/bushel, up $0.105 from yesterday's close.&n...

Just over a year ago (29 August), WPI reported on the California Air Resources Board (CARB) having finalized a rule that would effectively outlaw the sale...

The certainty that comes with USDA WASDE numbers inevitably fades during subsequent trading sessions as the focus shifts to what some might derisively call...

Skewing Farm Output The activist group Farm Action is usually slaying mythical creatures like Big Ag or the $750 million checkoff programs used by farm org...

Looking at the recently released meat price spreads from USDA can provide some hints as to what is going on in the livestock and wholesale meat markets. Re...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.805/bushel, down $0.0175 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.9375/bushel, down $0.035 from yesterday's close.&...

Export Sales and Shipments for September 1-7, 2023 Wheat:  Net sales of 437,900 metric tons (MT) for 2023/2024 were up 18 percent from the previous we...

Corn and soybeans staged reversals to yesterday’s WASDE-driven declines while wheat continued tacking higher on the report’s forecasted decline...

CBAMing Meat The EU is scheduled to soon publish a revised animal welfare directive that could impact suppliers in other countries. Much the way Brussels f...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.8225/bushel, up $0.0575 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.9725/bushel, up $0.0975 from yesterday's close.&nb...

Russian Grain Markets: 4–8 September 2023  Russian grain markets remained bearish, however, export volumes of all agricultural commodities from...

USDA reduced U.S. soybean stocks for 2023/24 to 220 million bushels, down 25 million from last month.  Global soybean ending stocks are reduced 0.2 mi...

USDA made slight increases in U.S. corn for 2023/24 - U.S. corn outlook is for slightly larger supplies and use unchanged.  The result is ending stock...

USDA made no changes in total U.S. wheat for 2023/24.  Global supplies are projected to decline 7.2 million tons to 1,054.5 million, primarily on lowe...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.765/bushel, down $0.0925 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.875/bushel, up $0.03 from yesterday's close. ...

The September WASDE report has now come and gone, and we are here to pick up the pieces. In general, the bears got to celebrate National Chocolate Milkshak...

Mexico’s Transition The U.S. effort at near-shoring has demand for Mexican warehouses and industrial parks surging. However, one deficit may be energ...

Most eyes on today’s WASDE were looking at the crop side since this is the first report with field test data. That feedback, however, is important to...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Israel reportedly signed a wheat supply agreement with Azerbaijan and Uzb...

Speculators have been reducing their market exposure for the last several sessions but today still had some unique attributes: Higher volume in corn, SRW,...

India’s Curious G20 Outcome The GATT was derided for being the General Agreement to Talk and Talk and former U.S. ambassador to India Ken Galbraith s...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.8575/bushel, up $0.02 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.845/bushel, down $0.1125 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will meet this month to discuss the next step in monetary policy. As it stands now, the Federal Fund Futures marke...

Wheat Since our last report, there have been some rains in much of the agricultural region that was affected by drought, especially in the Nucleus region a...

With mostly average to lower trading volumes and narrow trading ranges, there is some speculative comfort ahead of USDA’s September WASDE arriving ju...

Export Sales and Shipments for August 25-31, 2023   Wheat:  Net sales of 370,300 metric tons (MT) for 2023/2024 were up 13 percent from the...

The Supreme Court will be hearing a potentially significant tax case in the upcoming 2023-2024 session which starts next month, Moore v United States. In a...

The Market The September USDA WASDE will be issued on Tuesday, 12 September and most analysts believe the agency will reduce the average soybean yield from...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.8375/bushel, down $0.025 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.9575/bushel, down $0.04 from yesterday's close.&n...

There was direction in the market today, but some of it was a little surprising. There was some higher volume but only in soyoil and live cattle. To call c...

Industrial Planning Issues The U.S. and EU are reportedly working on a plan to jointly impose tariffs on excess steel production from China. Hopefully it g...

With the Labor Day holiday behind us it is timely to look at the hog and pork market. Slaughter the week before Labor Day was down 4.3 percent – thou...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.8625/bushel, up $0.005 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.9975/bushel, down $0.0925 from yesterday's close.&n...

Tuesday’s surprise (but not entirely unexpected) decline in U.S. corn and soybean conditions ratings, in tandem with more Russian attacks on Ukrainia...

India’s Day in the Sun The G20 meeting occurs this coming weekend in the New Delhi convention center and India is making the most of its central role...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.8575/bushel, down $0.0025 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $6.09/bushel, up $0.0975 from yesterday's close.&nb...

A drop in U.S. beef exports is corresponding with the cattle cycle fall in production. U.S. beef production is falling by a half million tons, with domesti...

Russian Grain Markets: 28 August–1 September 2023  Russian grain markets finally signaled that the new crop is calling the shots on the market...

The CBOT started the holiday-shortened week in a lackluster manner with the soy complex sinking lower, largely on weaker palm oil values and soymeal delive...

Worker-Centric Comments The Biden Administration complains that U.S. trade policy has historically focused on increasing transactions and lowering consumer...

To feed the world, countries need to have more arable land than is needed to feed the domestic population and have a higher yield or crop output per unit o...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.86/bushel, up $0.045 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.9925/bushel, up $0.0375 from yesterday's close. ...

The Senate is back in session today; the House of Representatives will return on 12 August. Top of the Congressional agenda will be funding the federal gov...

Regional Updates MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/NORTH AFRICA/AFRICA – MEA REGION Egypt and India are discussing a possible arrangement for the trade of Eg...

New: WPI has added softs (cocoa, coffee, cotton, and sugar) and selected energy futures (NYMEX natural gas, crude oil, RBOB gasoline, and Chicago ethanol)...

The CBOT was mostly flat in quiet trade to end the week with traders showing little concern for a weekend of hot, dry weather for most of the crop-growing...

The U.S. will celebrate Labor Day on Monday, 4 September, and the U.S. markets as well as our office will be closed that day. The next Ag Perspectives will...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.815/bushel, up $0.0325 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $5.955/bushel, down $0.065 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

The Market The soy complex lost value this week but the overall trend remains up. In fact, November soybeans almost moved over $14/bushel early this week...

Later this month, USDA will release the quarterly Hogs and Pigs report sizing up the swine herd as of 1 September. There are a lot of reasons – none...

It was another day of the weather and Chicago working at cross purposes. Continued heat and dryness are expected to knock corn and soybean yields lower but...

U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is pushing back at critics of the Biden Administration’s withdrawal from decades of trade liberalization. She...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.7825/bushel, down $0.025 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $6.02/bushel, down $0.05 from yesterday's close.&nbs...

For the past few weeks, hot weather has impacted feeder cattle sales to feedlots; that’s something that is likely to show up in the Cattle on Feed re...

        Export Sales and Shipments for August 18-24, 2023. Wheat:  Net sales of 329,100 metric tons (MT) for 2023/2024 were down 1...

The CBOT was lower on Wednesday, but it wasn’t because of a favorable shift in the U.S. weather. Rather, it was – or at least it seemed to WPI...

Dec 23 Corn closed at $4.8075/bushel, down $0.06 from yesterday's close.  Dec 23 Wheat closed at $6.07/bushel, up $0.065 from yesterday's close. ...

lt seemed good as inflation dropped from 9.1 percent in June 2022 to 3 percent in July 2023. Some politicians credited the Inflation Reduction Act, at leas...

Euractiv reports that 30 percent of the agricultural exporters in Albania have gone bankrupt. The cause? The rapid appreciation of the national currency, t...

Russian Grain Markets: 21–25 August 2023  Russian grain markets remained under pressure from a good crop, however, export duties decreased to al...

The CBOT was entirely red across the major ag commodities Tuesday as weak technical conditions and better than expected crop conditions pressured trader se...

The recent BRICS+ meeting in South Africa highlighted some of the animosity toward a world order long dominated by countries comprising just a minority of...